Hayley

Wow, that sounds ambitious! I can definitely see it working for this purpose though. I wonder, from your description, whether Sebastian Dangerfield is intended to be a bit of a caricature? It seems to play on a lot of exaggerated stereotypes of Irish men, anyway (ginger hair, drinks too much, charming and chatty yet deceitful). Did that come across as the intention in the book?

I'm glad you've found some good books recently! That always helps with the reading motivation. I haven't heard of this but my dad is a big Bob Marley fan, so I'll definitely be recommending it to him! I would also really like this - it's interesting not only in terms of determining a balanced view of true events, but also of looking at how people might experience/remember things differently.

I don't read a lot of horror but I really liked the atmosphere of Susan Hill's The Woman in Black! For a very short horror story, Click-Clack the Rattlebag by Neil Gaiman is great (and freely available on CommonLit Click-Clack the RattleBag by Neil Gaiman | CommonLit Library )

Adding Rendezvous with Rama to my list . I also liked 1984. That is very relatable What is the mythology book you’re reading?

I’ll keep a look out! I did do a quick search online but all I got was Jack Daniels vanilla cake (although I bet that is lovely). Also the Keurig looks like a great coffee maker!

I don't think I've ever seen a vanilla one! I would really like an iced coffee right now. I'm not sure what a Keurig is but I'm assuming a fancy coffee maker . We have a pretty basic coffee maker but a friend bought us a coffee tasting set from Whittards and they've been delicious.

A bit earlier this month I bought The Time Traveller's Almanac (such a pretty cover!) and A Spotter's Guide to Countryside Mysteries by John Wright. Also received The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah as a gift .

I would 100% buy a Daphne Du Maurier box set!

The Works has some good offers in its clearance sale at the moment, including this set of 5 Neil Gaiman books for £20 (American Gods, Neverwhere, Anansi Boys, Stardust and The Ocean at the End of the Lane): The Neil Gaiman Collection From £20.00 | The Works and this pretty F. Scott Fitzgerald clothbound set for the same price: The F. Scott Fitzgerald Collection: Deluxe 5-Volume Box Set Edition From £20.00 | The Works

I feel like this would probably work out a lot more expensive than mixing it yourself! (Pretty can design though) I had a suspicion that apple might sound nicer than it would be in reality. I think you're right that they really just do it to increase sales. I did try orange Jamesons this year though and that was lovely. Dangerously easy to drink. I very rarely drink alcohol and it did not taste as strong as it really is, even to me.

The Water Babies by Charles Kingsley 3/5 It's really hard to rate this one. I used to love the film when I was very young and I knew of the book (and some extracts from it) because I love Victorian fiction - but it was so much weirder as a whole than I even expected. From a historical point of view, it was really interesting. Kingsley often rambles on about contemporary scientific concerns (like the theory of evolution and the naming conventions of taxonomic classification) and while that really kills the pace of the story, it's also pretty fascinating in itself. Similarly, it makes some interesting points about the treatment of children and the inequalities of social class in the Victorian period. The actual plot of the story is didactic in the extreme, essentially being an explanation of how to get to heaven and how bad people atone for the things they have done after death (only using fantasy imagery of fairies and talking animals). It's quite satisfying in some ways (because there are occasions of adults being awful to children at the beginning and you know they won't just get away with it!) but there are lots of smaller lessons for children and that does get old fast. Kingsley is also just openly racist at times, particularly to Irish people. Again, this is reflective of fairly common prejudices at the time and they come across as very silly now. It actually just seems ironic that, in a book where Kingsley preaches the idea that you should treat others as you wish to be treated, he clearly implies that English and Scottish people are somehow superior to others. The phrase 'practice what you preach' comes to mind! So I'd say this is a worthwhile read if you're interested in it's historical significance (or in the style of writing which, being entirely in direct address to a child is pretty unusual) but, otherwise, I wouldn't particularly recommend it. A final point for those who've read it (or have no intention of reading it, so don't mind a spoiler!) Loving Amongst Our Weapons so far, as expected

I have finally finished The Water Babies by Charles Kingsley! Review coming soon but for now I’m going to start reading Amongst Our Weapons by Ben Aaronovitch before I have to get back to work! Very excited for this one!

Ooooh I bet that is lovely. I would definitely try passion fruit, blackberry lemonade and peach too! I don't think we have it in the UK though . It's only 30 here and I feel like I'm melting! This is the first time our dog has experienced heat like this. I set up a fan for her in the living room and she's been lying in front of it all afternoon! One thing I do like in the heat (which I remembered I had in the fridge today) is celery. Sprinkled with a bit of salt, which I always want more of when it's hot!

We were too hot to cook yesterday too. I had sweet potato crackers (new discovery for me - they’re so nice but a bit too expensive at full price!) and realised they tasted like nachos so I dipped them in salsa. Today is supposed to be even hotter… I would definitely have had watermelon if it didn’t require walking to the shop though. I love watermelon when it’s hot.

I actually do have a drinks trolley someone gave us one when we moved into our new house! It’s gold. Has anybody tried the apple Jack Daniels?

I absolutely love the Alice books and I think you’re right that retellings can be tricky. I always worry that they’ll seem cliched or too forced - I’d be willing to give this one a go based on your review though! Shades of Grey is definitely on my list too. Everything I’ve read by Jasper Fforde has been brilliant!

Hi, welcome to the forum! It’s great that you’re finally enjoying reading again. I’m going to be the first to jump in with a recommendation for you: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. It is strange but brilliant. I also love mythology (and whimsy!). Which books are your favourites? (Your English is excellent by the way, I wouldn’t have known it wasn’t your first language if you hadn’t pointed it out!)

If you want to keep a log of your progress you could post the page number you’re up to . I use the forum on mobile all the time too! It’s a really handy, quick way to check in! I’ll see what I can do . When we bought up the idea of a like button before I know that concerns were raised about some people feeling bad if they didn’t get as many likes on their posts as others. I think if we trial the like button for a while and then regroup on how people feel about it, that will be fair.

Yeah it really wasn’t well advertised! I don’t actually want to do it as a challenge but I’ll definitely use it to find out more about some of the books I hadn’t heard of. Also realised after I posted it that the link wasn’t the one I’d originally seen - the bbc version has more information: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4RNfHvd2sxNlHDFFqzTGVKc/the-big-jubilee-read-2012-2022

I loved it! My great aunt bought it for me many years ago. I feel like I need to re-read it too now! How old are your kids?

Has anybody heard of/ is anybody participating in this ‘Big Jubilee Read’ that the BBC and Arts Council are doing? https://readinggroups.org/big-jubilee-read I have to admit, I’ve hardly read any of the books in any of the decades…

Now that you mention it, they do have a lot of imprints!

I support this message - simply posting and interacting with posts does definitely help the forum to keep going! Potential new members who see active discussion will definitely be more likely to stay and interact too .

I was thinking that about knitting as I read this thread! My mom taught me how to do one stitch (is it still called a stitch in knitting?), which I think was called purl, years ago. I’ve never been able to wrap my head around patterns though. I can just go on one long line and that’s it! All the beautiful wool colours you can buy make it so tempting though. I haven’t heard of suguru puzzles before, I’ll definitely have to look some up! This sounds like an apt life metaphor to me.

Ha! I like that way of putting it . The forum has always been a comforting place for me too. Other social media platforms definitely do not have that feeling. This place has an actual community - that sense of ‘these are my people’ and the genuine emotional connection that comes with it. And that emotional connection is what makes this so sad! I was far more heartbroken than I expected to be when Michelle (the original Admin) announced that this forum would close. It has been really lovely having you all here from BGO though (I know everyone else here will agree!). You’ve bought new ideas and refreshed old ones. I hope you’ll continue to enjoy it here, even though I know it isn’t quite the same. We have a couple of regular members currently just taking a bit of a break - I’ve spoken to them personally and they are okay . I don’t want to give too much away, again, but we might have a visit from some older familiar faces once the update is done…